Introduction
1. Of Myself ect.
2. Youth Sunday
Did you know that something around the lines of 80% of students across the world do not profess Christ or a belief in God?
However, in the time that I have been here at London we have watched the youth nearly double in size; double in size, that's pretty amazing.
In the amount of time that I have been here at London there have been youth groups at churches three times the size of ours that have stayed the same...which is consistently averaging the same numbers that our youth have.
Don't even get me started on what our college class has had happen with it...
London, in case you haven't realized, these two age groups are the future of the church. If we aren't reaching these age groups, which thankfully we are, then we are in trouble.
That doesn't excuse the rest of the church though. If in the past year and half our church had doubled in overall attendance like the youth then what would we look like now? Sure we just had back to church Sunday and for those that have returned this Sunday we would like to thank you, this is a very exciting time for us at London and we are excited to have you on board.
I believe what it will take some changes in our personality in order for us to see a larger picture of what Christ wants for us and the church and all of this starts with aliens. Hence the picture of Jar Jar Binks on the screen.
Today we will look into the two types of aliens that we can be and what the differences between these types of aliens.
The first alien comes from Ephesians 2:11-22; (Show first Oz clip)
In Ephesians it talked about how as Gentiles we were are no longer Aliens and foreigners to Christ, meaning that at one point we were aliens and strangers to Christ. When Dorthy first enters Oz she is an alien there. This is a brand new place that she has never seen before.
People who don't come to church, who aren't Christians, are the first type of Alien.
This is why people show hesitation towards church and Christ. It is a foreign idea. This is why for most people you must build a relationship with them before they will come to church. Let me ask you this, how many for back to church Sunday just invited the guy at the gas pump and brought him with you? If so I applaud you, both for asking and for bringing that person, but the reality of it is that we asked people that we had a relationship with that they had a trust built up with us.
People whose first Sunday here with us, I'm sure you relate to this model of alien in at least one way. You probably had some apprehension to coming here last Sunday. Am I wearing the right cloths, will people welcome me, and what will the service be like? All thoughts that entered your head before you came here. I know I thought all of those thoughts a year and half ago when I first came here.
At London though we welcome visitors, that's what we do each Sunday when we go around the auditorium and welcome each other, we are trying to tear down those walls of hesitation and make visitors feel welcomed here. This is what we are doing by implementing our new greeters’ ministry. We are trying to break down those apprehensions that people have when they first visit a church.
As people are no longer aliens to church and Christ, they begin to become comfortable with the church, and they begin growing in their relationship then we are encouraged by Hebrews to become a different type of alien. Aliens to this world.
Essentially we go from being aliens to Christ living in the world, to being Aliens to the world and living in Christ.
Hebrews 11:13-16 (Show second Oz clip)
Dorothy realizes that no matter how much fun she has had in Oz, no matter how close she has grown to each of the characters, she is meant for her real home. This is how we are supposed to be as Christians.
We live in a fantasy world, Christians today live with this idea that we need to get everything we can in this world. We are meant for a better country church! We are meant for a heavenly one.
If we lived like we were aliens here then people would notice. We wouldn't need to have things like back to church Sunday. Our lives would be radiating Christ in such a way that people would ask us about Christ.
Keith Green has a song called "Because of You" and it says "People smile at me and asks me what it is that makes them want to be just like I am" Church, once we get to a point where we realize that this world has nothing for us, that we are meant for heaven country, then we will have people noticing changes in us.
This is what the American church needs more than a Back to Church Sunday. When Christians step up and realize what they are meant for, then we will see true revival within the church.
As we close out today you may feel that you are the first alien, either by being an alien to Christ or an Alien to our church, we would like to take this time to invite you to come to the front and take that first step, either by seeking to become a follower of Christ or in joining our church. You may also find that you are ready to take the step and become an alien to this world, maybe you want to come up here and offer that up to the Lord, this is your opportunity.
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This is the template of the sermon that I preached last Sunday.
Upon presenting it, I realized that it lacked alot of content. However here is a template of a sermon, for others use or to just use to compare styles.
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